Recent times have reinforced the need to keep it simple. Whether it’s handling the machinations of worldwide shipping, managing a project to completion or simply maintaining an undisturbed perspective on new realities, leaning into simplicity and ease is a much needed skill. With its latest collection, Surface Mode, Chemetal strives in that direction.
Surface Mode features new designs on thicker metals, harnessing the popularity of Chemetal’s ALU designs, while adding CNC-carved etchings on 2.2 millimetre (.09”) aluminum.
This is where the simplicity comes in. The panels don’t require a wood panel substrate — they can be mechanically fastened to wall studs, extrusions and more. The need for additional lamination — plus hefty MDF panels — is eliminated, along with some labour costs. What’s more, the panels are easily repurposed or recycled as they are made of 100 per cent aluminum.
Arm in arm with simplicity comes beauty, and Surface Mode hits the mark. Dark panels with slight linear variation echo the look of blackened steel, creating a neutral background brimming with personality. Light, Medium and Dark ALU options exist on thinner as well as thicker metal, along with a flat black powder coating.
For Chemetal, genuine metal has an undeniable appeal. According to the brand’s Creative Director and President Geoff Schaefer, “Whether it’s for darkened industrial tones, energetic brushed aluminums or luxurious antiqued brass, nothing can replicate the look of real metal in design spaces.”
Chemetal’s brushing process leaves CNC-cut low spots shadowed, creating beautiful contrast. The patterns in the Surface Mode collection are named after world-class cities: #550 Barcelona for its grid layout and #553 Budapest for a triangular design representing cities divided by the Danube. The angular #555 Sapporo is named after a dynamic Olympic City.
The gentle wave of Chemetal #551 Dawn Patrol is an outlier to this naming scheme, since few great surf breaks are found in urban environments. #552 Good Chemistry is a broken hexagon pattern, inspired by the broken dreams and cracked heads in Breaking Bad.
Custom opportunities abound for designers to create their own CNC designs, logos, wayfinding, signage and branding messages. Panels — with or without a design — can also be powder coated in several options.
Chemetal also filled out the Surface Mode collection with several new directions, like #919 Satin Copper Aluminum, an almost non-directional satin copper addition to their Anodized Classics: 0.6 mm (.025”) thick anodized aluminums that are affordable, attractive, functional and easy to bend. Plus, Chemetal has added 3 new pressed designs: Majestic, Waterworld and Food Truck, which are larger format designs that can be pressed into any of Chemetal’s 900 Series anodized aluminum.
Chemetal crafts many of their designs in-house in western Massachusetts. Their products are available worldwide through an international distributor network.
This content was published by Azure on behalf of Chemetal.
Chemetal’s Surface Mode Showcases the Power of Simplicity
With their new collection of real metal coverings, Chemetal embodies a return to integrity and restraint.